P.S. I Love You!

This weekend I traveled to the lovely Southern California oasis, known as Palm Springs.  I've been to Palm Springs two other times - the first time was to give a (enthralling) talk at the CWEA Annual Conference a few years back.  The second visit to Palm Springs was for the 2007 Tour de Palm Springs with RB.  It was a quick in and out in the same day.  I don't think on my previous visits, that I fully appreciated the place.

Arrived bright and early Saturday morning after a 5:00 a.m. departure time.  It was raining when we left and we traveled through patches of fog.  Upon a quick gas/bathroom break 15 miles prior to arrival, was a bit nervous at the conditions.  It was windy and COLD.  Decided upon tights, sleeves, jacket and a hat.  This was slightly different than my 2007 experience (it was in the low 80s and I got a sun burn and bad tan lines from my shorts).  We parked the truck and changed into awesome bike attire (see previous posting on bike attire).  I was also EARLY this year!  This is wonderful because in 2007 I was about 30 minutes late with RB.  Actually, that is how I met RB in 2006 - we were both late to the Tour de Poway....So thank goodness for my tardiness or I never would have met RB!  Anyways, fast forward to this year...  I'm pleased with myself for being on time... They let us take off for the 55-mile race in small groups so as not to overwhelm the streets/police/etc with the 8,000+ riders.  

AJP and I took off heading north through the streets of Palm Springs, which is a cute town. Suddenly we were out in the desert.  It was still brisk and we were biking directly into the wind.  All of the windmills were cranked and I struggled to keep my speed at 10mph (yikes!!).   But, the scenery was amazing.  I really had somehow missed the mountains during my previous visits - I'm not really sure how, as they were AMAZING!   Snow-capped (somehow never noticed snow-capped mountains in So Cal before)... and all around.  It made riding into the strong winds for the first 10 miles totally worth it!  

Next we turned and headed east.  This part of the course is FAST.  There are rolling hills (mostly down) and we're out in the middle of the desert with minimal traffic and people.  This part was super fun.  The Lemond was feeling extra fast and got up to a ripe speed of 35 mph down some of the hills.  The ride continued on like this for quite some time (maybe the next 25 miles or so?).  Then we turned and headed south back towards another town - Thousand Palms (not to be confused with Thousand Oaks many miles to the west).  The rest of the ride was through town and was quick and flat outside of the occasional stop light.  I kept thinking throughout the ride how nice the scenery was!  Not sure how I missed that before!  We finished up the 55 mile (actually clocked at 56 mile) ride by 1 p.m. (note cheezy finish picture for a good laugh on Monday morning - love bike attire - also notice new white handle bars on Lemond taped by yours truly!)...

The ride was extremely well organized and lots of fun to participate in.  I would recommend to anyone who likes to ride!  Aid stops were well stocked and filled with volunteers and high school bands, which was fun.  The end of the race was in downtown Palm Springs complete with balloon finish arch (in red, white and blue) another band, cheerleaders, a whole festival of sorts and lots of smiling bikers.  A great experience!  Felt pretty good after 56 miles!

Moving on to today - Today was a 100-minute training run.  Instead of the normal out and back beach routine, opted for the trails.  I suppose you could say I hit the wall today.   Felt out of sorts - achy, tired, over-trained, and a bit grumpy.  From then my mind/attitude crumbled and it turned out to not be the best run ever.  Luckily, tomorrow begins week 12, which is RECOVERY week.  Couldn't have come sooner...  Speaking of which, my goal was to be in bed 30 minutes ago.  Tomorrow will be here before I know it and another trip to the pool is in store for the early morning hours.  Must get to sleep!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Ciao Ciao!